Nice and Friendly

Vanity projects have never been very good. And how else you call a movie that is made as a wedding present to your friends, who also star in the movie than not a vanity project. 'Nice and Friendly' stand as this little curiosity in Chaplin's career, that is neither funny nor sad. This movie might even rank lover than some of his weakest earlier works for Keystone.

The main plotline is that Lady Mountbatten has a valuable pearl necklace and everybody wants to steal it. She confronts many different criminals. His lover is played by Lord Mountbatten who tries to save her. His friend calls a 'specialist' - Charles Chaplin as the Tramp. Chaplin enters the house and saves the day. Oh yeah, Jackie Coogan also appears, but it is left unclear who his character is supposed to be.

I'm sure that it was a fun day for all the people involved but unfortunately, for the viewers, the movie is not that funny. Incoherent plotting and jokes aren't anything spectacular either. On the other hand, this movie wasn't meant for the wider audiences anyway. Might be a little boring, but this homemade movie is still worth checking out. The plus of the short movies - they aren't very big time wasters.

Like the last title card said: "All of which goes to prove something very profound but we are not quite sure just what it is." - Chaplin must have had this thought about the movie.

Nice and Friendly (1922)

** (out of 4)

There's not any real story to this 11-minute short that was directed by Charles Chaplin. The star made this as a gift to Lord and Lady Mountbatten for their wedding and it's probably doubtful that it was ever meant for public eyes. Considering this thing is basically just a home movie I'm not going to be overly harsh on it. If so then I'd have to say that nothing in it is very funny and this is perhaps the least funniest film Chaplin ever made. With that said, whereas he usually took a year or more to finish a film he probably got this one in the can within a day or two so needless to say it didn't get his full, masterful attention. For the most part it's a fair time killer that shown Chaplin as the Tramp messing around. What exactly he's doing I'm not certain of but it appears he's just fighting some other men for some reason. Jackie Coogan is also on hand as this was shot shortly after the success of THE KID. Film buffs might want to check this out but others should just stay clear.

I don't usually write comments on IMDb but I think I'm going to start. I needed to say something for this one because the comments were so negative and I don't know why. I laughed and laughed at this little short. It isn't logical and it doesn't have a straightforward storyline; it's just more of a series of funny images and situations. It's just Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan fooling around one day with some friends. To be completely honest, that sounds very entertaining to me. And it was. Charlie as the tramp is hilarious (as always); he does some funny stuff with a cane, a hammer and his hat. The tramp's entrance into this film made me laugh my butt off, and so did the ending. The only bad thing is that the beginning is a bit slow but as soon as the Tramp makes his entrance the film really picks up.

"Nice and Friendly" is a film by Charlie Chaplin and it was made for Lord and Lady Mountbatten...Queen Elizabeth's second cousin and Viceroy of India. Apparently, he and his new bride were staying at Pickfair and Chaplin made this film with them as well as Jackie Coogan. So, as you watch, understand that it was not intended as a cinematic release.

The silent short begins with Lord and Lady Mountbatten in the garden. Along comes some villains one of them steals the Lady's necklace...as young Coogan screams for help and overacts just a bit. And, to the rescue comes Chaplin as the Little Tramp. Understanding exactly what is happening is a bit difficult, as the film really is more like a fancy home movie than anything else.

So is it any good? Well, I am sure that the Mountbattens, Charlie and the rest of the folks at Pickfair loved the movie and had a great time making it. As far as the general public goes, however, I think this one would have simply baffled them and I can see why it wasn't released at the time. Weird and a film strictly for Chaplin completists. Otherwise, skipping this one would do you no harm. More an odd curio than anything else.

Am a big fan of Charlie Chaplin, have been for over a decade now. Many films and shorts of his are very good to masterpiece, and like many others consider him a comedy genius and one of film's most important and influential directors.

It is hard to not expect a lot after not long before Chaplin had one of his earliest career highs in 'The Kid'. 'Nice and Friendly' was a big disappointment, it's interesting as a curio but it is down there with the likes of 'Triple Trouble' and the worst of Chaplin's Keystone period as one of his misfires. As said with many of his post-Keystone efforts, it shows a noticeable step up in quality though from his Keystone period, where he was still evolving and in the infancy of his long career. The Essanay and Mutual periods were something of Chaplin's adolescence period where his style had been found and starting to settle. After Mutual the style had properly settled and the cinematic genius emerged. It is hard to believe that 'Nice and Friendly' came from this period, it was not intended to be released to the public and does have a home movie feel.

'Nice and Friendly' has a few redeeming values. The best thing about it is Chaplin, who brings gusto and professionalism to his limited screen time and material.

There are a few mildly amusing moments and visually it is competent enough, far from primitive or rough.

Unfortunately, the main issues are that the story is very flimsy, what there is is contrived and predictable, and most of the first portion is slow and uninteresting, with it picking up a little when Chaplin comes into the picture too late to properly salvage things. It also is not very funny, a few mildly amusing moments but mostly it's not imaginative or particularly well timed and the material is far from fresh.

Didn't get a lot out of the supporting cast, which lack comic timing, ease and charm, and didn't see the need for Jackie Coogan who has little to do. The charm is missing and so is anything worth investing in. Although Chaplin does his best in terms of performance, in terms of directing this is one of his going-through-the-motions endeavours.

In conclusion, a misfire during a period where Chaplin had fully settled. 4/10 Bethany Cox